One ring to rule them all? Oura Ring rival RingConn debuts its Gen 3 smart ring with an official Lord of the Rings binding

RingConn Gen 3 is now available for purchase
It offers features such as sleep apnea tracking and up to 14 days of battery life
To celebrate, RingConn has partnered with Warner Bros.

RingConn Gen 3 has arrived. After going on pre-order in May earlier this year, it’s now available for purchase, starting at $349 (around £260 / AU$500). And to celebrate, it has formed an unusual partnership… or should that be the Fellowship?

Let’s look at the ring first. It offers haptic vibration alerts for health events (not notifications) that even the best smart rings can’t do. Other notable features include vascular health insights, blood pressure and sleep apnea features. RingConn said the feature is ‘the first smart ring brand to introduce sleep apnea monitoring with continuous SpO2 tracking every two seconds….all with no recurring subscription for premium insights.’

The key is in the details there, as other smart rings offer reliable sleep apnea tracking. Recently at Samsung Galaxy Unpacked, the Samsung Galaxy Ring was approved for FDA approval for its sleep apnea detection feature, so it’s likely that RingConn’s claims are due to its specific sleep tracking method of SpO2 measurement. We have contacted RingConn for clarification.

Counting your steps to Mordor

It finally happened: a smart ring company partnered with Warner Bros. to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (otherwise known as the best, and I hear no arguments otherwise). I certainly didn’t expect it to be RingConn though.

A press release says the partnership ‘brings together one of fantasy’s most epic film franchises and a new generation of wearable technology’ as ‘the collaboration celebrates the shared belief that greater awareness can lead to better choices.’

Unfortunately, there doesn’t appear to be a redesign of the Gen 3 ring to resemble the famous One Ring from the movies. The release says that “to mark the partnership, RingConn will introduce exclusive movie-themed rewards to eligible Gen 3 customers in the US” — but it doesn’t specify what those rewards actually are. In the words of Frodo: “ok then, keep your secrets”.